Hamas ‘examining’ proposal that would free 10 hostages but offers NO guarantee of permanent peace
Benjamin Netanyahu has thrown his weight behind a new American ceasefire proposal that could pause the bloodshed in Gaza for 60 days – but critics warn it’s merely kicking the can down the road as the death toll continues to mount.
The Israeli Prime Minister told anguished families of hostages that he’s accepted the deal crafted by Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, even as 44 more Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours alone.
But the devil is in the details – or rather, what’s missing from them.
A Deal Full of Holes
The proposal, which Hamas says it’s still “examining,” would deliver ten living hostages back to their desperate families. In exchange, Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including those serving lengthy sentences, and partially withdraw troops from the devastated Strip.
Yet seasoned observers are already spotting the glaring omissions. “This isn’t a peace deal, it’s a pause button,” one diplomatic source told me. “We’ve been here before, and we know how it ends.”
The agreement conspicuously lacks any guarantee of a permanent ceasefire. More troubling still, it fails to clarify what happens when the 60-day clock runs out if negotiators remain deadlocked.
History Repeating Itself
The haunting precedent looms large. When the previous temporary ceasefire expired in January, Israeli forces immediately resumed their assault on Gaza, having flatly refused to negotiate a permanent end to the conflict during the pause.
It’s like groundhog day,” sighed Dr. Sarah Meier, a Middle East analyst at Kings College London. “We get these temporary reprieves that raise hopes, only to see them dashed when the bombing inevitably resumes. The families of hostages are desperate for any deal, but this feels like a band-aid on a severed artery.
A senior Israeli source, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed further gaps in the Witkoff proposal. The terms don’t specify where Israeli forces must redeploy during the ceasefire, nor how humanitarian aid would be distributed – two issues that have proven explosive in previous negotiations.
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s trusted dealmaker, has clearly been burning the midnight oil to craft something both sides might swallow. The businessman-turned-diplomat has been shuttling between capitals with the determination of a man who knows his boss expects results.
Witkoff’s got Trump breathing down his neck to deliver a win,” explained a Washington insider familiar with the negotiations. “He’s pushing hard, but you can’t paper over fundamental disagreements with clever drafting.”
The timing is particularly poignant. As Netanyahu embraces the proposal, Gaza’s morgues are filling up again. The Hamas-run Health Ministry reports 44 killed in Israeli attacks over the past day – men, women and children whose lives ended while diplomats debated semicolons in ceasefire texts.
Families Cling to Hope
For the families of the estimated ten living hostages who might come home, every detail matters less than the simple possibility of reunion. Rachel Goldman, whose nephew has been held since October 7th, spoke through tears outside the Defence Ministry.
We don’t care about the politics anymore,” she said, clutching a worn photograph. “We just want them home. If this deal brings even ten people back to their families, it’s worth trying.
But Palestinian families in Gaza, many of whom have lost multiple relatives, view things differently. A 60-day pause means nothing if they just start killing us again in March,” said Ahmad, a father of three in Gaza City who refused to give his surname. “We need real peace, not these games.”
Hamas Plays for Time
Hamas’s response – that they’re “examining” the proposal – is diplomatic code for intensive internal debate. The militant group faces its own impossible calculus: accept a deal that could provide desperately needed relief to Gaza’s suffering population, or hold out for better terms that may never come.
“Hamas knows they’re negotiating from a position of weakness,” noted Professor Michael Hartley from Tel Aviv University. “Their infrastructure is devastated, their leadership decimated. But they also know that accepting a deal without a permanent ceasefire guarantee essentially means accepting defeat in installments.
Sources close to Hamas leadership suggest fierce arguments are raging in whatever bunkers remain intact. Hardliners argue that accepting Witkoff’s terms would betray the Palestinian cause, while pragmatists point to the mounting civilian death toll.
The Missing Pieces
What’s not in the deal speaks volumes. No mechanism for transitioning to permanent peace. No international guarantees. No clear framework for Gaza’s reconstruction. No agreement on who governs the Strip when the dust settles.
It’s like agreeing to stop punching each other for two months without addressing why you were fighting in the first place,” observed Dr. James Patterson, former British ambassador to Israel. These fundamental issues don’t disappear because you’ve stopped shooting temporarily.
The vagueness around troop redeployment is particularly concerning. Without clear demarcation lines, any incident could spark renewed fighting. Similarly, the absence of agreed aid distribution mechanisms virtually guarantees disputes that could unravel the entire arrangement.
Netanyahu’s Gamble
For Netanyahu, accepting the proposal represents both an opportunity and a risk. It allows him to tell hostage families he’s doing everything possible for their loved ones, while maintaining military flexibility for the future.
“Bibi’s playing a clever game,” suggested a senior Likud party member who requested anonymity. He gets credit for being reasonable while keeping all his options open. If Hamas rejects it, he can blame them. If they accept and it falls apart later, he can say he tried.”
But opposition leader Yair Lapid was scathing in his assessment. “This isn’t a strategy, it’s a delaying tactic,” he thundered in the Knesset. “We’re mortgaging our future for a two-month rental agreement on peace.”
The Clock Keeps Ticking
As diplomats parse words and politicians calculate advantages, the human cost continues to mount. Those 44 deaths in the past 24 hours aren’t statistics – they’re somebody’s children, parents, siblings. Each one represents a family torn apart, a future extinguished.
Emergency room doctor Mohammed Ashraf, working in what remains of Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, painted a grim picture. “We’re seeing injuries we can’t treat properly because we lack basic supplies. A 60-day ceasefire would help, but what then? Do we just prepare for the next wave of casualties?”
Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, the families of hostages maintain their vigil, torn between hope and bitter experience. They’ve been disappointed before, promised breakthroughs that evaporated like morning mist.
What Happens Next?
The coming days will prove crucial. Hamas must decide whether to grasp this lifeline or gamble on better terms. Israel must determine if domestic pressure for hostage releases outweighs military objectives. And the international community must consider whether to endorse another temporary fix or push for something more substantial.
“We’re at a crossroads,” concluded Dr. Meier. This could be the beginning of a genuine peace process, or just another intermission in an endless tragedy. The fact that we can’t tell which says everything about how broken this situation has become.”
As night falls over Gaza and Israel, mothers on both sides of the border clutch their children a little tighter, wondering if Witkoff’s proposal offers real hope or merely another cruel illusion in a conflict that seems to have forgotten what peace even looks like.
For now, the world watches and waits, knowing that in this tortured land, even 60 days of quiet would feel like a miracle – even if everyone knows it’s unlikely to last.
Image credit: Forced Displacement of Gaza Strip Residents During the Gaza-Israel War 23–25 by Jaber Jehad Badwan, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
